About 12 years ago I was presenting to an audience of security consultants and engineers in Vancouver. The product was a dual camera set on one pan and tilt mechanism – a thermal imager and a day light imager in one package. The primary concept I was discussing was thermal crossover, a phenomenon that happens when a thermal imager is receiving the same amount of heat from the background and foreground, making the image of the objects blend together. This can happen during sunrise and sunset, and the screen can actually look blank. In areas where sunsets can be long and slow – Vancouver during the summer – thermal crossover can be a major issue when securing critical infrastructure sites. At the end of my presentation, I thought everything was moving smoothly until I asked for questions.
Question #1: “What’s thermal crossover?”
This question was followed by many endorsements– hardly anyone knew what the term thermal crossover meant, and for the last 20 minutes I was talking about how great our system was at overcoming the challenge. Really? They didn’t know? No, they didn’t know. Why would they? They’re smart people, but night vision wasn’t their area of expertise. That was mine – I should’ve assumed they didn’t know.
One of my common recommendations when presenting technical topics is to keep the discussion light and full of stories. Stay away from the technical jargon during your presentation. However, it’s also important to make sure your audience understands the concepts you’re presenting. How can you make sure they’re educated but not bore them to death during the session?
Idea Tuesday: The day before a technical presentation, email a glossary of technical terms that will be used in the presentation. Make the glossary as short as possible – two pages maximum. Send this email in the morning, giving them an entire day to review it, but not any sooner than the day prior to the presentation.
This practice will offer multiple benefits to you. Obviously, your audience will understand the technical terms that you’re presenting. You will also present an image of professionalism above and beyond your competition. Finally, your audience will be engaged from the beginning. You warmed them up a little with your email – now they’re ready to engage as soon as the presentation starts.
Bonus idea: include a question at the end of the glossary and discuss the answer at the opening of your presentation – giving out gift cards to the most creative answers.
